Car Breakdown Discussion

brimau_2

I have just had a VERY bad experience with AA. I broke down 45 miles from home. Stupidly my breakdown cover had expired. Stuck in the car with a screaming child in the middle of nowhere...called the AA. Charged £158 for call out/1years cover. Mechanic could not fix the problem so then had to pay another £69 "upgrade" to be towed home. Thankfully inside the 50 mile rule or i would have paid £2.50 per mile extra. I was towed to my home but its 11 miles to nearest garage! I called the AA again and explained my predicament. Totally UNHELPFUL and hell bent on creaming even more money out of me, they said another £49.50 plus the £2.50 per mile....£77 I am raging because when i said stuff it, i want to cancel the cover, I was then informed of the "admin charge" to do so. Out of £227 taken only £93.11 would be returned and even then it could take up to 21 days to do so. DISGUSTING!! I am definitely NEVER recommending that bunch of robbers to anyone.

MrSpock_2

den169 wrote: »

But to me basic cover is worthless i don't want taking a few miles to be ripped off at a local garage ,I want the car taking home.

Fair Enough. They've always managed to fix my probs at the roadside so it works for me. Can't beat that for £4 though!

The_AA_Company_Representative

Hello brimau,

We would like to address the points made in your post on 22nd July. Please email [EMAIL="chat@theaa.com"]chat@theaa.com[/EMAIL] along with Reference number 14940 so that we can discuss this with you.

Regards,
The AA

gterr

We've been watching our AA breakdown cover rise over the last few years and were too lazy to query it. So glad we did this time! After haggling on phone to AA got the offer down to just over £130. This is for rescue, relay and homestart: husband and wife, any car. We have a car each and about 12000 miles a year, but do mostly only local travel, perhaps one or two trips of longer than 150 miles a year, so thought we might do better elsewhere.

Have ended up with Green Flag. My car is the 'nominated car' because it's the newer one, but we've added personal cover for us both (partners are added for free) so that husband's older car is covered. In fact, since we both have personal cover we are covered for any car up to 15 years old, even if we are just a passenger. We get better cover than we had with AA: rescue, home start equivalent, recovery to anywhere in UK, and expenses e.g. overnight accommodation and tickets home if required. Total price: £81.62.

Had to start by getting an internet quote and saving it, then phoned to negotiate based on this quote. Phone operator was able to suggest the cheaper way of getting what we wanted.
When I told her my husband would be swapping car next year she said to phone when he had done if it was a newer car than mine, since this would bring THIS YEAR's premium down further!

Automatic renewal after 12 months BUT letter will be sent out 21 days in advance so that we can renegotiate if we wish.

Been with AA over 25 years, but no regrets about leaving. Even the promise of "Gold Advantage" services etc., and how many breakdown vehicles they have was no help: we live in a remote area and none of the main breakdown firms serve us with their own vehicles: it's always the local garage that comes out, whichever firm you are with.

So, my advice for Green Flag is to do the online quote thing and save it (to get the 40% discount for online bookings) then phone and negotiate on this quote. They may be able to tweak the services you opt for to give you exactly what you want (or more) for a cheaper price.

den169

gterr wrote: »

We've been watching our AA breakdown cover rise over the last few years and were too lazy to query it. So glad we did this time! After haggling on phone to AA got the offer down to just over £130. This is for rescue, relay and homestart: husband and wife, any car. We have a car each and about 12000 miles a year, but do mostly only local travel, perhaps one or two trips of longer than 150 miles a year, so thought we might do better elsewhere.

Have ended up with Green Flag. My car is the 'nominated car' because it's the newer one, but we've added personal cover for us both (partners are added for free) so that husband's older car is covered. In fact, since we both have personal cover we are covered for any car up to 15 years old, even if we are just a passenger. We get better cover than we had with AA: rescue, home start equivalent, recovery to anywhere in UK, and expenses e.g. overnight accommodation and tickets home if required. Total price: £81.62.

Had to start by getting an internet quote and saving it, then phoned to negotiate based on this quote. Phone operator was able to suggest the cheaper way of getting what we wanted.
When I told her my husband would be swapping car next year she said to phone when he had done if it was a newer car than mine, since this would bring THIS YEAR's premium down further!

Automatic renewal after 12 months BUT letter will be sent out 21 days in advance so that we can renegotiate if we wish.

Been with AA over 25 years, but no regrets about leaving. Even the promise of "Gold Advantage" services etc., and how many breakdown vehicles they have was no help: we live in a remote area and none of the main breakdown firms serve us with their own vehicles: it's always the local garage that comes out, whichever firm you are with.

So, my advice for Green Flag is to do the online quote thing and save it (to get the 40% discount for online bookings) then phone and negotiate on this quote. They may be able to tweak the services you opt for to give you exactly what you want (or more) for a cheaper price.

Iv'e looked at green flag myself but this part of there terms below puts me off.I want the car taking home not to a local garage.
I might aswell go for start rescue with personal cover at under £50 as use Green Flag under the same terms.

What is covered

All the benefits under Section A, and, if it is apparent to us or the
chosen repairer that repairs cannot be effected by the repairer by the
end of the working day, we will arrange and pay for the transportation
of you, the vehicle and any passengers to a single destination of

your choice in the UK.

mooreli

Can anyone recommend cover for a 78 campervan please. Greenflag require a further £128 pa. :mad::mad:

darroch

Hi all,

Looking at breakdown cover for my car. Namely the AA quidco cashback product. Probably will be the product at £95.

Do I go on to quidco and just select any of the "get cashback" buttons or does it need to be the one saying "Up to 48% off UK breakdown cover + upto £8- cashback"? How soon will the money appear? Do I get an email and does it go straight into my account? Will £5 be taken off the cashback amount?

Thanks

Johnkewin

Bump start means what my friend can you explain me about that?

Matt_T

Just a warning to anyone considering taking breakdown cover with RAC. DON'T!

Just had to call their (ill-named) Customer Care Centre after they renewed my membership without any advance warning (this is required by law for Direct Debits) then wrote to tell me about it a couple of weeks after my cooling period had expired.

Was met by hostile, unhelpful attitude from the beginning eventually ending with the woman slamming the phone down (NB I did not and never do shout or swear at people in call centres).

Called back and received the same kind of treatment: endless repeating that if they send letters to me it doesn't matter if they don't arrive and I can't do anything about it. No apology for the woman who hung up on me either.

I'm off to a company who actually cares about customers and wants to give good service, maybe AutoAid?

Meantime I highly recommend that people avoid RAC and their awful attitude.

WLM21

mooreli wrote: »

Can anyone recommend cover for a 78 campervan please. Greenflag require a further £128 pa. :mad::mad:

Can anybody answer this ?

I too have a campervan (1989) which I need covered.

Thanks !